THE WORLD | IN BRIEF / JAPAN

Death Penalty Sought for a Former Cult Leader

Prosecutors demanded the death penalty for a former leader of the doomsday cult that carried out a nerve gas attack in Tokyo's subway that killed 12 people and sickened thousands.

Tomomitsu Niimi, former "home affairs minister" of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, is being tried in the deaths of 26 people in seven attacks, including the 1995 subway assault and the slaying of a lawyer and his family.

Niimi gained notoriety at the start of his trial in 1996 by refusing to enter pleas and pledging eternal loyalty to Aum guru Shoko Asahara.